Tourism minister meets US delegation as part of UNWTO council meetings

Minister of Tourism Dr. Rania El- Mashat met on Tuesday with the US delegation participating in the 110th session of the Executive Council of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), which is taking place from 16 to 18 June in Azerbaijan’s capital Baku.

During the meeting, El-Mashat congratulated the American delegation on the return of the US to the UNWTO after 23 years of absence, pointing out that the membership of a large country such as the US is a boon to the organisation.

The Minister of Tourism stressed that the relations between Egypt and the US are special on all levels, noting that the US market represents 3 percent of the incoming tourism to Egypt and that the ministry is working to increase the number of American tourists coming to Egypt during the upcoming period.

The US delegation highlighted their country’s aspiration for more cooperation between the two countries in the field of tourism.

The minister discussed issues of mutual interest with the US delegation , as well as ways of boosting bilateral relations in the field of tourism.

The US delegation included US Principal Deputy Chief of Staff Emma Doyle, Special Secretary of the Bureau of International Organization Affairs Lisa Brown, Chairman of the United States Committee for the Preservation of American Heritage Abroad Paul Baker, and Cathy Wills Wright, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Organizations Affairs.

Minister El-Mashat arrived on Saturday in Azerbaijan to participate in the 110th session of the Executive Board of the UNWTO.

Egypt is a member of the Executive Council of the UNWTO, which consists of 35 countries.

Egypt hosted the UNWTO meetings of the Middle East Regional Commission in May 2018 at Sharm El-Sheikh and March 2019 in Cairo.

President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi’s met with the secretary-general of the UNWTO Zurab Pololikashvili in Cairo last March, when the head of the organisation presented President El-Sisi with UNWTO’s shield in recognition of his efforts to boost tourism through the launch of the structural reform program to develop the sector in Egypt.